Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Russia launches Baltic drills alongside NATO Saber Strike war games

The Baltic Sea and skies are getting crowded as Russia launches
military training of its assault forces in the exclave of Kaliningrad in
answer to the double war-games being conducted by joint NATO forces on
the territory of the three Baltic States.

NATO’s decision to conduct dual war games next to Russian borders in
the Baltic has not been left unaddressed by Russia’s Defense Ministry,
which prepared a surprise training of first strike forces – marines,
paratroopers and long-range bombers – right in the backyard of the NATO
military maneuvers.

“We conduct military training simultaneously with the
international war games that have started in Europe, Saber Strike-2014
and BALTOPS-2014,” said the ministry’s press service.

Defense Ministry noted that the military might engaged in training in
the Kaliningrad Region is by all means comparable with the NATO’s
forces concentrated on the nearby territory of Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania, where Saber Strike-2014 is conducted on June 9-20 and
sea-based BALTOPS-2014 training held in the Baltic on June 6-21.

The Russian maneuvers involve the use of naval groups, marines,
landing operations of airborne forces, air defense training and firing
exercise of front-line aviation.

The paratrooper division from Pskov will be training operational
deployment to Kaliningrad, whereas marines will be training defending
the coastal line from possible sea-borne landing and will also perform
isolation and elimination of illegal armed groups.